Who Knew? (TV series episode)
Who Knew? is the 245th episode of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H, also the 5th episode of Season 11 of the series. Written by Elias Davis and David Pollock, and directed by Harry Morgan, it originally aired on November 22, 1982. Synopsis After a new nurse Hawkeye was dating is killed by a landmine, Hawkeye finds himself doing some serious soul searching when he finds out she was too shy to reveal she had serious feelings for him. Full episode summary Hawkeye returns to the Swamp in the middle of the night, waking B.J. to brag about the great night he just had with a new nurse, Lt. Millie Carpenter. But the next morning, during breakfast in the Mess Tent, Col. Potter delivers some grim news that Lt. Carpenter's was found dead by the road; apparently she had went for a walk during the night, wandered off the road and stepped on a landmine. Everyone is shocked and saddened, but when Potter asks for a volunteer to do the eulogy at Millie's memorial service, no one speaks up. Noticing this, Hawkeye later goes to Father Mulcahy while he is filing Millie's personal effects and volunteers to do the eulogy. Later to B.J., Hawkeye contrasts Millie's death to being shipped out, the latter in which Hawkeye felt he would just toss off a joke or two and then forget about her after a few days, but in this case he feels as though he owes something to Millie. Hawkeye starts gathering what information he can about Millie by talking to the others in camp, mainly Margaret and the other nurses, but outside of being a good nurse, none of them have anything to say about Millie, not that they didn't like her, but because they didn't really ''know ''her as she was particularly quiet and kept to herself. In frustration, Hawkeye is about to turn the eulogy back over to Father Mulcahy, but then Mulcahy suggests Hawkeye read Millie's diary, which he found hidden underneath her mattress. Hawkeye is reluctant, but Mulcahy was obliged to read it and feels that Hawkeye should also read it as a final gesture to Millie. Hawkeye finally agrees and reads it, and in so doing learns much more about Millie: she was head nurse of the thoracic surgery unit at Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco, and then put in for a transfer to a MASH unit in the hope that she could do more good at the front (which culminated only in her untimely death). But on a much more personal level, Millie wrote in essence that she was falling in love with Hawkeye, remarking on how his kindness and warmth made her forget how lonely she was. She then wrote at 3 o'clock in the morning that Hawkeye is weighing so heavily on her mind that she cannot sleep and decides to take a walk to clear her head; this was the last entry she made in her diary before she was killed. Hawkeye is troubled by Millie's words and blames himself for her reluctance to open up to him about her feelings; convinced that their relationship would have been the same at six months as it was after the first two dates, Hawkeye reflects on the fact that he has always made it a point to keep things casual between himself and all the women he has dated, including Millie, and surmises that he never really gave Millie a chance to tell him how she felt. The next morning at Millie's memorial service, Hawkeye shares some little-known facts about Millie, starting with a large box of fudge that Millie had hoarded (giving only one piece to each of the other nurses); Hawkeye found out that, while on night shift and with no one else watching, Millie had given the rest of the fudge to the wounded in Post Op. Hawkeye revealed to everyone what he learned about Millie: that a lot of people had misjudged her to be distant and unfriendly, but in reality she was very shy and, outside of her diary entries, couldn't open up about herself to anyone. Knowing what he knows about her now, Hawkeye admits that he regrets not allowing himself to get to know Millie better, or for Millie to get to know ''him ''better. But he decides to use this moment to do something Millie never got the chance to do- to try and not be so reserved about his own feelings, and to do a better job of letting those closest to him know what they mean to him. He singles out Margaret, Col. Potter, Father Mulcahy, Charles, Klinger, and "Beej", telling each of them how much he loves them. He ends the eulogy by saying "Goodbye, Millie." Subplot Klinger tries to convince Charles to invest in his latest get-rich-quick scheme: the invention of the hula hoop. Klinger shows him a demonstration with a Korean child playing with one, and at first Charles brushes it off as nonsense. But after seeing an stuffed "Shmoo" doll in Col. Potter's office, and hearing how extremely popular they are, he reconsiders and agrees to go in on Klinger's deal. But later, when some locals laugh at Charles as he tries unsuccessfully to use the hula hoop, his foolish pride motivates him to back out of the deal, causing Klinger to give up his scheme. Later, we see Klinger trying once again to get Charles to invest in another soon-to-be-popular fad: the Frisbee, which Charles dismisses outright, believing that if it was Klinger's idea it cannot work. ("Will you urchins take your mindless recreation elsewhere?"). Recurring/Guest cast *Kellye Nakahara as Lieutenant Kellye Yamoto *Enid Kent as Nurse Bigelow *Shari Saba as Nurse Shari *Jo Ann Thompson as Nurse Jo Ann Fun Facts * The "Shmoo" was first introduced in August of 1948 and hit the heights of popularity shortly after and well into the following year. Since this episode of "M*A*S*H*" takes place roughly close to the end of the war (July 1953), it's difficult to gauge just how popular the Shmoo would have been at that time. *The specially-made flying plastic discs were initially manufactured in 1948. The name "Frisbee" was ascribed to the discs in 1957, having been derived from the name of a pie company in Bridgeport, Connecticut (the Frisbie Pie Company), whose tins were being used as flying discs. *Like the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee did not become popular until later in the 1950s. Though in this case Klinger was more of a visionary than a scammer, it is probable that Charles' investment, had he made it, might have become a loss. Category:Season 11 episodes